tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post940194493804031443..comments2024-03-19T21:14:01.007-07:00Comments on The Compass Rose: Wright Morris - The Inhabitants - A Pioneer WorkCurtis Favillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-82697126558118713402010-03-07T06:41:23.854-08:002010-03-07T06:41:23.854-08:00OK, and the lack of...er humans would seem to supp...OK, and the lack of...er humans would seem to support your POV. Morris's photos then are vaguely social realist, but aestheticized, and stripped of political content: as in, okie's shacks, decaying in the prairie winds-- let them eat taters, or whatever. <br /><br />Alas, the photos only hint at the problems; we can't see all the relations--like economic, financial or historic which led to the shanty-towns (including, admittedly, the seizure from the natives--that was probably sioux or comanche territory 50 years previous)<br /><br />They were better off with some muckrakers pullin' for 'em, whether Steinbeck or Sinclair or Miss Tarbell.<br /><br /><b>IDA...TARBELL?? </b>Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-911567103452003572010-03-06T12:52:58.023-08:002010-03-06T12:52:58.023-08:00J:
I was merely trying distinguish the main thrus...J:<br /><br />I was merely trying distinguish the main thrust of his work from that of the WPA Dustbowl group, which preceded him by about five years. His work contains much of the same kind of subject-matter, but it's not seen as propaganda.<br /><br />Yah?Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-53459476425694833642010-03-06T11:41:49.165-08:002010-03-06T11:41:49.165-08:00steve THAT is R E A L silver-ware... tarnished!
...steve THAT is R E A L silver-ware... tarnished!<br /><br />no doubt about it.. this is "real" Objectiveism...<br /><br />isn't silver used in// integral to/ photography process? in the film/paper..or in the chemicals? and only in b/w photoing?<br /><br />a glance at the photos<br /><br />howebver<br /><br />I most "dig" the process- es in the doing<br /><br />results happen then (my eye/mind) I just move on.<br /><br />I got a couple of those LoA productions... like some kind of an Encyclopedia all the books seem alike... physically<br /><br /><br />a sameness which seems to be the norm/attitude these days is not only boring<br />but is doing no good for no-boddhi!<br /><br /><br />lists are also boring...<br /><br />better use of time/space?<br /><br />sitting (al;one) quietly in my yard<br />watching the weeds grow.Ed Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285310130024785775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-80974489348800098592010-03-06T10:12:52.311-08:002010-03-06T10:12:52.311-08:00Really glad you covered this, Curtis.
In my busin...Really glad you covered this, Curtis.<br /><br />In my business (graphic design) the adage is "Don't proofread your own work." Because you can't.<br /><br />Pro journalists have always relied on fact-checkers, copy editors, and proofreaders.<br /><br />Pick up any recently-published book or newspaper and see what happens when these essential functions are removed from the chain.<br /><br />And soon we're going to get all our news from the blogosphere?<br /><br />The drop in accuracy level may be okay for opinion pieces or for blog posts where the writer has first-hand knowledge or expertise. (Though even there mistakes are inevitable.)<br /><br />Is the accuracy of our entire view of the outside world going to depend on the hit or miss effect of cranky comments?<br /><br />When the venomous snake bit their buddy in the neck, the two Mayans in Mel Gibson's Apocalypto blurted out the appropriate word for what we are.George Mattinglyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11844284835653397986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-61094569059415018802010-03-06T07:41:59.035-08:002010-03-06T07:41:59.035-08:00he's not overly aesthetic, not a muckraker.
...<i>he's not overly aesthetic, not a muckraker. </i><br /><br />Sort of mutually exclusive disjunct there, eh Sir F--needin' NOR perhaps.<br /><br />'Merica could use some neo-Muckrakers--who, it should be remembered, were not always Demopublicans. Most were sort of vaguely progressive, yet Ida Tarbell for one hated the big Tweed-unionist Demos nearly as much as she did the GOP fat-cats and industrialists (like her nemesis Rockefeller), and in fact Miss Tarbell pledged her loyalty to...Il Duce Mussolini in the 20s) <br /><br /><br />That said, purdee pics in the Dust Bowl vein.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-89751276286386451442010-03-05T14:58:37.638-08:002010-03-05T14:58:37.638-08:00Curtis, maybe assume that all your readers are ign...<br> Curtis, maybe assume that all your readers are ignorant as me, and would appreciate knowing what's what. Otherwise, I'd almost agree, there's no reason for anyone to assume all photos are from the book you put at the head of the post, and primarily feature/discuss, other than an assumption that the writer (that'd be you) is proceeding in <i> a logical, fashion designed to kindly and clearly educate</i> <br /><br />I've found on-line an image of silverware by Morris. In contrast to the "gaudy" silver (your term) of the other guy's photo, this one -- given what you wrote -- is more of what I'd expect of Morris, with the utensils looking almost dead and forgotten, not touched for years by anybody: <br /><br /><a href="http://www.themaslowcollection.org/morris2.html" rel="nofollow">Click here to see (reproduction is small, and I don't know if the tonality is "correct")</a><br /><br />I do appreciate the attention to the Morris. I "get" him now more than I ever did.Steven Famahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13733977161680651117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-87176884702905630232010-03-05T14:47:37.273-08:002010-03-05T14:47:37.273-08:00Steven:
You're right, and I've taken it d...Steven:<br /><br />You're right, and I've taken it down. <br /><br />Actually, I don't see any reason to presume that all the images came from The Inhabitants, or that that restriction should necessarily follow from the placement of the book and title page at the head of the essay. <br /><br />Morris's images from this period--1939-1945--total several hundreds of images, only a handful of which, were published in his books. Later exhibitions included many more, some of which rivaled the original published selections for quality and interest. Aside from the Venice book, his work has a very consistent character. <br /><br />There are several images of silver sets in his oeuvre, but the one I hastily put up isn't his.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-3254362221815923972010-03-05T14:06:19.291-08:002010-03-05T14:06:19.291-08:00Now this is REALLY surprising:
Curtis, my researc...Now this is REALLY surprising:<br /><br />Curtis, my research suggests that the photo of silverware you include is NOT Wright Morris at all. Rather, a tribute to him, by a current-day photographer.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pbase.com/gmaker/image/68144933" rel="nofollow">See this page here (click through)</a>.<br /><br />Well, we all make mistakes.<br /><br />I request that you correct it, if you agree it's wrong.Steven Famahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13733977161680651117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-13006976703242791832010-03-05T13:39:15.708-08:002010-03-05T13:39:15.708-08:00Hey Curtis,
I've just confirmed, I do believ...<br>Hey Curtis, <br /><br />I've just confirmed, I do believe -- via a lunch-hour errand-run up to Moe's Books -- that the photo of the silver utensils is NOT in <i>The Inhabitants</i>.<br /><br />If I'm correct, it irritates me that you imply otherwise, not clearly labeling the sources of the photos.<br /><br />Regardless, of that, where's the photo found, please?<br /><br />Thanks.Steven Famahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13733977161680651117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660090614793277371.post-44879378272767070402010-03-05T08:21:32.669-08:002010-03-05T08:21:32.669-08:00Nice rant-a-rama post-script!
For Morris, does he...Nice rant-a-rama post-script!<br /><br />For Morris, does he get screwed a little, maybe, reptuation-wise, because he of his jack-of-all-tradeness?<br /><br />I love the picture of the silver utensils. <br /><br />Interesting to think about <i>The Inhabitants</i> together with another photo-book of the same time period, that also features shots of dwellings or buildings: Clarence John Laughlin's <i> Ghosts Along The Mississippi</i>Steven Famahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13733977161680651117noreply@blogger.com